**** Official 2020 Fitness Thread ****

[penguinz]

Where is everyone on their fitness goals these days?

I recently reached 315 bench. Feel stronger than ever but also getting old and takes so long to recover!

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by The Franchise

Where would I find the “right” clinic?

One that specializes in it will usually get you it. Unlike say your PCP.

I’ll be looking into next year I think.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by The Franchise

I think mine might be low but at what point do they consider it low enough for TRT?

Generally, it's below 300, but it depends what doctor you get. Some are more about treating the symptoms than the number.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by The Franchise

Where would I find the “right” clinic?

One of the "TRT Mills" would work...you know, the kind of places that advertise during sports games. Places like the Low T Center, etc would gladly take your money.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by loochy

One of the "TRT Mills" would work...you know, the kind of places that advertise during sports games. Places like the Low T Center, etc would gladly take your money.

How much are you paying per month for yours?

[loochy]

Originally Posted by The Franchise

How much are you paying per month for yours?

0 now that im at a family practice doctor. Insurance + HSA covers my twice yearly doc visit and blood work. I do self pay for the testosterone because it's cheaper than what insurance would cover. A 10cc vial of 200mg/ml Test Cyp is $40 at Walgreens with a GoodRX coupon. That lasts me 10 weeks. So, all in all, I pay about $250 a year for my TRT (insurance premiums and HSA contributions/matches are not included here).

Back at the TRT place I think it was about $30 per visit, including my shot.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by loochy

0 now that im at a family practice doctor. Insurance + HSA covers my twice yearly doc visit and blood work. I do self pay for the testosterone because it's cheaper than what insurance would cover. A 10cc vial of 200mg/ml Test Cyp is $40 at Walgreens with a GoodRX coupon. That lasts me 10 weeks. So, all in all, I pay about $250 a year for my TRT (insurance premiums and HSA contributions/matches are not included here).

Back at the TRT place I think it was about $30 per visit, including my shot.

Thanks for the info. I’ll see what places around here. I just don’t want to go to some bullshit place.

[epitome1170]

Question for the wise group in here (sorry for the backstory on it as I think it does have a role)...

Last year for lent, I decided I was going to fast. I needed to lose weight anyway (38 year old at 6'4" 250 at the time) and I liked the sacrifice of it. So for the 40+ days, I did not eat during the week... only on Sundays. The last few Sundays, in particular, I let my diet go to crap in order to try to gain as many calories as I could because without it I was afraid I wouldn't make it to Easter without losing too much weight. All said and done when I finished I was just under 200 pounds (197).

Fast forward to today... for the last year since then, I essentially IF... my eating window is 4:30 pm to 8:30 pm. In particular the last month, I have been working out 1-1.5 hours in the morning with my calorie intake always around 800-1400 calories (depending on the day). However, my weight (now at 243) will not go down.

So my question... did I do irreparable harm to my metabolism by my long fasting? How do I offset it? Or am I Low-T?

Thoughts?

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by epitome1170

Question for the wise group in here (sorry for the backstory on it as I think it does have a role)...

Last year for lent, I decided I was going to fast. I needed to lose weight anyway (38 year old at 6'4" 250 at the time) and I liked the sacrifice of it. So for the 40+ days, I did not eat during the week... only on Sundays. The last few Sundays, in particular, I let my diet go to crap in order to try to gain as many calories as I could because without it I was afraid I wouldn't make it to Easter without losing too much weight. All said and done when I finished I was just under 200 pounds (197).

Fast forward to today... for the last year since then, I essentially IF... my eating window is 4:30 pm to 8:30 pm. In particular the last month, I have been working out 1-1.5 hours in the morning with my calorie intake always around 800-1400 calories (depending on the day). However, my weight (now at 243) will not go down.

So my question... did I do irreparable harm to my metabolism by my long fasting? How do I offset it? Or am I Low-T?

Thoughts?

Metabolic damage is likely. No one should fast that long. Sorry, it’s the truth.

I do IF and have for a decade. I would try increasing your feeding window to 8 hours. I’d eat around 1200-1500 calories per day and spread them throughout the caloric window. If you can try exercising right before your feeding window, that would be best. If you can supply calories immediately post workout, your insulin sensitively may return (it’s likely off with a fast that long). Try to have this as your highest carb meal too.

I’d be concerned about your body functioning first before further weight loss. At this point don’t focus on scale weight and increase the weight training to promote your BMR.

[Megatron96]

So not being able to workout, other than push-ups, crunches, and squats finally got the better of me and i bought a Weider Ultimate body Works (basically very similar to a Total Gym slider thing). Anyone have one and care to give me some pointers? Not on exercises, but things to watch out for or quirks in function, maybe maintenance tips? Basically I don't want to break it doing something stupid that I could've avoided.

[epitome1170]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Metabolic damage is likely. No one should fast that long. Sorry, it’s the truth.

I do IF and have for a decade. I would try increasing your feeding window to 8 hours. I’d eat around 1200-1500 calories per day and spread them throughout the caloric window. If you can try exercising right before your feeding window, that would be best. If you can supply calories immediately post workout, your insulin sensitively may return (it’s likely off with a fast that long). Try to have this as your highest carb meal too.

I’d be concerned about your body functioning first before further weight loss. At this point don’t focus on scale weight and increase the weight training to promote your BMR.

Thanks. Some good advice and I will try that and see how that goes

[ThaVirus]

What do you bros do for shoulders? I've been watching a lot of NBA after the restart and I want my shoulders to pop like Giannis and seemingly half of the NBA roster.

Mine get some residual work from the bench, overhead press, dips, etc but I'm looking to really go hard on them.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

What do you bros do for shoulders? I've been watching a lot of NBA after the restart and I want my shoulders to pop like Giannis and seemingly half of the NBA roster.

Mine get some residual work from the bench, overhead press, dips, etc but I'm looking to really go hard on them.

My brother stole this from Brad Pitt's trainer for Fight Club, and it worked very well for him:

Arnold press — four sets at 15, 20, 25, 30 lbs (15 reps per set)
Laterals — four sets at 10,12.5, 15, 20 lbs (15 reps per set)
Front raises — four sets at 10, 12.5, 15, 20 lbs (15 reps per set)

Note: those are the weights i use; the idea is relatively light weights and higher reps, but use weights that fit your body/muscle mass/etc. At the end of each set the last rep or three should be fairly difficult, but not to actual failure.

For me this workout is more about strength than actually increasing the size of my shoulders, because i partially dislocated my left shoulder during a judo tournament and had a level 3 separation to the right in a football game, so if I don't work on them they get hinky. Like the left shoulder wanting to pop out at random times.

But for my brother it increased the measurement around his shoulders by several inches when he was in his early 40s.

[Titty Meat]

Who's been going to the gym since the lockdowns been lifted?

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by epitome1170

Thanks. Some good advice and I will try that and see how that goes

Let me know how that goes. It’s at least where I would start, for about 4 weeks before assessing how it’s working. We can sometimes improve body composition with increased calories when we’ve caused some metabolic issues.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by Titty Meat

Who's been going to the gym since the lockdowns been lifted?

I go when I can (about 4x a week) , but if I don't then I have everything at home except heavy dumbbells.